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True Anomaly

Engineering Manager, Mechanical (Spacecraft)

2mo ago
USALead
True Anomaly

Engineering Manager, Mechanical (Spacecraft)

2mo ago
USALeadmechanical engineeringteam leadershipsystems engineeringprogram management

Lead and develop a team of mechanical engineers working on spacecraft programs including LEO/GEO satellites and on-orbit servicing vehicles.

Responsibilities

  • Build, lead, and develop a team of 6–10 Mechanical Engineers across LEO/GEO satellite, small sat, and on-orbit servicing vehicle programs at the GravityWorks facility.  
  • Own all people management responsibilities: hiring, onboarding, performance management, compensation reviews, career development planning, and succession planning; partner with recruiting to define roles, calibrate experience levels, and close top engineering talent.  
  • Set clear performance expectations and individual development plans for each team member; identify and develop future technical leads and staff engineers; foster an inclusive, high-trust team culture grounded in True Anomaly's values of relentless ownership, intellectual curiosity, and first-principles thinking.  
  • Serve as the engineering authority and escalation point for spacecraft mechanical design decisions across all active programs — spanning structures, mechanisms, electronics packaging, and propulsion integration; develop and maintain mechanical engineering standards, design practices, GD&T conventions, and CAD model management disciplines across the team.  
  • Establish design review cadence, perform technical checker duties on high-criticality deliverables, and ensure quality and completeness of the team's mechanical design packages; chair or oversee spacecraft design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, MRR, PSR) and drive closure of technical risks, RFIs, and action items.  
  • Interface directly with program managers, chief engineers, and customer stakeholders on mechanical status, risk, and schedule; drive DFM culture into upstream hardware design organizations and establish formal cross-functional touchpoints.  
  • Lead resource planning and capacity management across concurrent programs; partner with systems engineering, propulsion, avionics, thermal, and manufacturing teams to ensure cross-discipline integration and system-level compliance, and flag resourcing gaps to leadership.  
  • Champion continuous improvement in mechanical design efficiency, drawing and model quality, and hardware delivery cycle time; support proposal efforts and new program captures in partnership with program management and business development.  
  • Maintain working-level technical oversight of spacecraft mechanical design including: primary and secondary structural design and margin compliance, mechanism and deployment system development, electronics and avionics packaging, propulsion subsystem mechanical integration, mass properties management, and ICD ownership; develop and approve qualification and acceptance test plans, witness testing, and resolve anomalies and non-conformances.  

Requirements

  • Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related engineering discipline; graduate degree strongly preferred.  
  • Minimum 10 years of professional experience in mechanical design, with the majority spent on spacecraft or satellite hardware programs; at least 3 years in a formal people management role or equivalent experience leading, mentoring, and technically directing a team of engineers; demonstrated success hiring, developing, and retaining engineering talent across multiple experience levels (entry through staff).  
  • Clear understanding of product life cycles and program execution; proven track record managing a complex mechanical design portfolio across multiple concurrent spacecraft programs from concept through flight delivery, including ownership of technical risk, schedule, and cross-subsystem integration.  
  • Demonstrated expertise in spacecraft structural design for launch load environments, including experience with multiple launch vehicle ICDs and structural margin compliance; extensive hands-on experience with spacecraft mechanisms design, including flight-qualified deployment systems, precision mechanisms, and on-orbit moving assemblies.  
  • Expert-level proficiency in NX (Siemens) and/or SolidWorks, including complex multi-subsystem assemblies and configuration management; mastery of GD&T principles with experience defining and enforcing drawing standards across a team or organization; strong familiarity with spacecraft and aerospace standards (e.g., NASA-STD-5001, GEVS, AIAA S-110, MIL-SPEC) and their application to design, analysis, and test.  
  • Strong cross-functional leadership and executive-level communication skills; ability to influence program management, systems engineering, propulsion, avionics, manufacturing, and quality organizations without direct authority, and to present complex technical topics to senior leadership, customers, and government stakeholders.  
  • U.S. citizenship required; ability to obtain or maintain an active Secret clearance required.  
  • Ability to maintain or obtain TS//SCI clearance
  • Work Location —this role will be onsite at either our Centennial, CO or Long Beach, CA location, with travel to other sites as needed.
  • Work environment —the work environment; temperature, noise level, inside or outside, or other factors that will affect the person's working conditions while performing the job.
  • Physical demands —the physical demands of the job, including bending, sitting, lifting and driving.
  • This position will be open until it is successfully filled. To submit your application, please follow the directions below. #LI-Onsite
  • To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.
  • True Anomaly is committed to equal employment opportunity on any basis protected by applicable state and federal laws. If you have a disability or additional need that requires accommodation, please do not hesitate to let us.
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Nice to have

  • Direct management experience leading mechanical engineering teams of 5 or more engineers in an aerospace or defense environment; prior experience building team processes, role ladders, and engineering standards from the ground up at a high-growth defense or new space company.  
  • Prior experience as a lead mechanical engineer or chief engineer on a spacecraft program, with ownership of vehicle-level mechanical architecture and cross-subsystem integration across multiple programs delivered to flight.  
  • Deep experience with on-orbit servicing, proximity operations, or rendezvous and docking systems, including servicer-to-client structural and mechanism interfaces; experience with smallsat and CubeSat platforms including rapid development cycles, COTS hardware integration, and aggressive mass and volume constraints.  
  • Experience with spacecraft electronics packaging: avionics integration, thermal interface design, harness architecture, and integration and test planning; familiarity with structural analysis and FEA methods (e.g., NASTRAN, Ansys) and ability to guide and review analysis performed by the broader team.  
  • Experience supporting business development, proposal writing, and new program captures in a technical leadership capacity.  
  • Active Secret or TS/SCI clearance.  

Conditions

  • Base Salary: $140,000-$225,000
  • Equity + Benefits including Health, Dental, Vision, HRA/HSA options, PTO and paid holidays, 401K, Parental Leave  
  • Your actual level and base salary will be  determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, location, and experience.  

Other

  • Space is a warfighting domain. True Anomaly seeks those with the talent and ambition to build the technology that secures it.
  • OUR MISSION
  • True Anomaly delivers decisive capabilities for space superiority. We build autonomous spacecraft, advanced payloads, mission software, and space-based interceptors — enabling the U.S. and its Allies to secure the space environment and counter threats from the ultimate high ground.
  • OUR VALUES
  • Be the offset.   We create asymmetric advantages with creativity and ingenuity.
  • What would it take?  We challenge assumptions to deliver ambitious results.
  • It’s the people.  Our team is our competitive advantage and we are better together.
  • YOUR MISSION
  • We are seeking a Manager of Spacecraft Mechanical Engineering to build, lead, and develop a high-performing team of 6–10 mechanical engineers working across our LEO/GEO satellite, small sat, and on-orbit servicing vehicle programs. This is a people leadership role that also  maintains  your connection to the work through executing scope.  In partnership with other  mangers  y ou will  co- own organizational health, department best practices, standard processes, requirements, technical direction, hiring, and career development for a team spanning entry-level through staff engineers. You will partner closely with systems engineering, program management, propulsion, avionics, and manufacturing to ensure the mechanical engineering function delivers flight-ready ha
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